Why is Big Sur so ugly?

[Wowfunhappy]

Left: new, fresh, not flat
Right: old, stale, flat
View attachment 930857
View attachment 930860

But see, it's not hard to make something that looks better than a flat piece of crap. 😈 Let's give it some real competition:

The best. Clickable elements are clearly clickable. It's not overly black (dark mode) but it also doesn't burn your eyes (light mode).

I'm tempted to post more screenshots because these two don't do it justice (I just pulled up the applications you showed), but seriously, Leopard-era Mac OS is just a timeless design. Take a look through:

Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard

When asked which version of Mac OS X was the best, many Mac nerds will reply with Snow Leopard. Released in 2009 under the mantra "No New Features," 10.6 did bring new things with it. Mail, iCal and Address Book were granted Microsoft Exchange integration, and as it was the first release to...

512pixels.net

 

[fisherking]

But see, it's not hard to make something that looks better than a flat piece of crap. 😈 Let's give it some real competition:

View attachment 931037

The best. Clickable elements are clearly clickable. It's not overly black (dark mode) but it also doesn't burn your eyes (light mode).

I'm tempted to post more screenshots because these two don't do justice (I just pulled up the applications you showed), but seriously, Leopard-era Mac OS is just a timeless design.

Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard

When asked which version of Mac OS X was the best, many Mac nerds will reply with Snow Leopard. Released in 2009 under the mantra "No New Features," 10.6 did bring new things with it. Mail, iCal and Address Book were granted Microsoft Exchange integration, and as it was the first release to...

512pixels.net

wow, that looks so... old. glad apple keep things moving forward, not backward...

 

[dmccloud]

But see, it's not hard to make something that looks better than a flat piece of crap. 😈 Let's give it some real competition:

View attachment 931037

The best. Clickable elements are clearly clickable. It's not overly black (dark mode) but it also doesn't burn your eyes (light mode).

I'm tempted to post more screenshots because these two don't do justice (I just pulled up the applications you showed), but seriously, Leopard-era Mac OS is just a timeless design.

Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard

When asked which version of Mac OS X was the best, many Mac nerds will reply with Snow Leopard. Released in 2009 under the mantra "No New Features," 10.6 did bring new things with it. Mail, iCal and Address Book were granted Microsoft Exchange integration, and as it was the first release to...

512pixels.net

There is a reason Apple changed their design philosophy shortly after Leopard/Snow Leopard were released.

 

[Brien]

No love for 10.0/10.1 and the pinstripes?

 

[Wowfunhappy]

There is a reason Apple changed their design philosophy shortly after Leopard/Snow Leopard were released.

But they didn't! They kept it from 10.5 – 10.9, that's seven years!

No love for 10.0/10.1 and the pinstripes?

Ew, no. Does anyone like those?

I do think 10.4 / Tiger has a nice glossy aesthetic, but I prefer Leopard.

 

[Brien]

I think we can all agree MacOS UI peaked in ‘97:

 

[ErikGrim]

I think we can all agree MacOS UI peaked in ‘97:

If we are counting Copland themes (transparent pixels in the UI was a revolution back then, which this theme Gizmo was meant to show off), HiTech is the way to go:

Although my personal favourite has to go to the sublime Drawing Board theme designed by Apple Japan

 

[TETENAL]

Left: new, fresh, not flat
Right: old, stale, flat
View attachment 930857
View attachment 930860

The design on the left is flatter than that on the right.

Other than that they are just different. None of the designs is intrinsically more "modern" than the other. It's just a matter of taste.

 

[harriska2]

I have a 40" monitor running at 1.5x. I can cram a ton of stuff on my screen and still be able to read it. It appears (I am probably wrong) that the space utilization on the new Big Sur is not designed for big monitors, thus making the OS more frustrating for people like me that really like to put lots of stuff in front of their face.
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I fully agree

Windows 10 looks horrible. Not touching it with a 50 foot pole, mostly due to required updates. But the looks ... after 25 years of using it, I just can't.

 

[Natya Sadella]

Here are my first impressions after a week with the new OS:

I had a couple of days time, between watching the keynote and actually installing the big sur beta. no joke, the fbi raided my house on the next morning after the keynote and took my iphone and macbook pro away. I was hyped to see a more or less full redesign of the OS, because there was no real leaks about the new macOS before the keynote. As soon as I saw the new icons, I thought "..what?". It was weird to see those skeupho-like icons back in the flat apple world. Especially the messages and facetime icon. these look terrible. or the battery icon? tf? But aside of the icons, I was very hyped to test the beta. I bought a new macbook air a couple of days ago and instantly installed the beta.

fast forward, it's really not that bad after a week of heavy usage. the icons look way better on a retina display and in the small dock. launchpad icons are still bad even on retina, so is the battery panel icon. jesus. it feels really modern now, I had my macbook pro for like 2 weeks before they took it and I thought "man how cool a complete redesign would be" and bam here it is. I'm REALLY excited for beta 2 to be honest. of course, there is still a lot of work and refinements to bring on the table but I trust apple this year.

 

[dburkhanaev]

I use my iPad as a Macbook replacement and have never thought the interface was “ugly“. This is the same kind of reaction Apple received when they created the iPhone X with the notch. Shortly afterwards loads of Apple competitors started copying the notch on their phones!

Just give it time to become accustomed to the new look.

I’ll be so happy when Apple releases an iPhone with FaceID that doesn’t have the immersion breaking notch. I can’t believe people even loved it. Years later it’s still horrid.

 

[dburkhanaev]

wow, that looks so... old. glad apple keep things moving forward, not backward...

Just because you’re moving forward doesn’t mean you’re moving in the right direction. And a step backward from time to time, isn’t a descent into the past. The dull grey icons post Snow Leopard, have never looked good, nor have they made it easier to see at a glance. And the new sidebar icons from Big Sur are better, but not better than Snow Leopard. It’s just not as easy to see. You just learn where things are at by muscle memory or taking time for your eyes to pick out the variations in shape, but color- no.
Overall I like the design of Big Sur, but I wish the spacing in the windows and sidebar weren’t so wasteful and that icons in the interface would take the best elements of color and design from the past and integrate them into the future.

Remember there can be lessons learned from taking a step back.

 

[Wowfunhappy]

I can’t believe people even loved it.

I don't believe anyone actually likes the notch, whatever they say. As in, I don't believe they'd actually be upset if Apple got rid of it.

 

[fisherking]

Just because you’re moving forward doesn’t mean you’re moving in the right direction. And a step backward from time to time, isn’t a descent into the past. The dull grey icons post Snow Leopard, have never looked good, nor have they made it easier to see at a glance. And the new sidebar icons from Big Sur are better, but not better than Snow Leopard. It’s just not as easy to see. You just learn where things are at by muscle memory or taking time for your eyes to pick out the variations in shape, but color- no.
Overall I like the design of Big Sur, but I wish the spacing in the windows and sidebar weren’t so wasteful and that icons in the interface would take the best elements of color and design from the past and integrate them into the future.

Remember there can be lessons learned from taking a step back.

different interpretations. forward to me means moving in the right direction. so, you're used to what you're used to, or comfortable with it. i like things 'shaken up'.. one of the reasons i'm on the beta program.

no matter what we feel, apple does what it chooses to do, as always. i don't like everything they do, but i adapt. it's that, or complain on an internet forum... which accomplishes nothing.

 

[dumiku]

Finder toolbar is a big no-no for me, I used to customize it with the search bar in the middle and the folder name on the toolbar taking all that space for nothing

Plus it kinda hard to drag the windows from the top, the space is too small especially safari

 

[dmccloud]

Finder toolbar is a big no-no for me, I used to customize it with the search bar in the middle and the folder name on the toolbar taking all that space for nothing

Plus it kinda hard to drag the windows from the top, the space is too small especially safari

I've had no problems dragging windows from the top, so I'm not sure why you would be having a different experience on your computer.

 

[Macsonic]

Likely I’ll wait it out for many months before deciding to upgrade to the Big Sur. I’ll keep track on it’s performance and possible bugs.

 

[Natya Sadella]

Finder toolbar is a big no-no for me, I used to customize it with the search bar in the middle and the folder name on the toolbar taking all that space for nothing

Plus it kinda hard to drag the windows from the top, the space is too small especially safari

You can always customize your toolbars like on catalina.

and safari has no space for clicking and dragging around..? I can see PLENTY of space lol

 

[dumiku]

You can always customize your toolbars like on catalina.

and safari has no space for clicking and dragging around..? I can see PLENTY of space lol

That because you don't have a bunch of toolbars icons, the only easy place for me to drag is near the minimize, close, etc buttons

I tried to customize my toolbars in Finder like in Catalina but I couldn't maybe, it's the way it works now that I don't like

I like to keep my finder window small and usually my icon use to fit with a tiny search bar in the middle but now it just the search icon and when I search it expands and moves to the right side of the window see the pics below

There more than enough space to just show the icon

This what happen when I search

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I've had no problems dragging windows from the top, so I'm not sure why you would be having a different experience on your computer.

I have a lot of icons on my safari toolbars that's why there is less space I usually go for the to quickly drag the window now I have to go to specific spots like near the close, minimize buttons

Finder does not really behave the way it was doing in Catalina in my opinion, that's one the first I always customize when installing a new or fresh system

See my screenshot in my reply to Natya Sadella

 

[TETENAL]

I have a lot of icons on my safari toolbars that's why there is less space I usually go for the to quickly drag the window now I have to go to specific spots like near the close, minimize buttons

The draggable area didn't even change between Catalina and Big Sur, because Safari already has the unified tool bar/title bar. The difference is that buttons are now borderless, so you cannot see where it is safe to drag.

 

[dumiku]

Right!
I am getting used to it though

 

[tomi03]

"A dropdown menu cannot have rounded edges, because then it is simply not a dropdown menu anymore"

who tf do you think you are? the allmighty god of UI? We already gatekeeping computer OS's now?

and what does wheels of a car have to do with the menubar of big sur lol, someones really mad about the redesign of a computer OS lmfao

lets get back to topic:

the catalina menu bar screenshot above already looks so outdated. I do not like every aspect of the redesign but overall, it's a really nice fresh look. and we are just in beta 1, there will be so many changes in beta 2, 3, 4.. like every year.

it’s not outdated, it was well made. The corners on everything looks ugly, that’s a fact. Just because you have bad taste doesn’t mean all people need to have it too.

 

[Skoal]

This is all my option, but I've heard some hate on Big Sur here and there as well. My question is, why does Apple want to make Mac OS into IOS like seriously; I've always liked how good and "professional" OS X looked, but now it just looks so unprofessional...

And when Apple pushes this update, do you think it is safe for me to stay on Catalina?

Like I just got my new Mac, and I see this...

I mean does iOS and iPadOS look unprofessional?

I think Big Sur looks great in comparison to the jumbled past

 

[Skoal]

I hate the dock, icons and menubar, but quite like the rest of the UI.
The dock looks horrible, and so does the menubar with all that rounding, flat translucency and wasted space.

It has no more wasted space than before

 

[Wowfunhappy]

...I think we should be careful talking about "facts" and "good taste". Tastes are very personal and will always differ. We can share comparisons and say which elements we prefer, but no there are no truly wrong answers—unless something is actually hard to read or misaligned with the design grid, or some such.

Edit:

It has no more wasted space than before

Eh, it does kind of. It's physically larger and less information dense—take a look at some of the side by side screenshots. I'm saying this as someone who thinks it looks better—it's definitely a less efficient use of space, just about throughout the OS.

...it really does make me think they're planning to add touchscreen support at some point. Then it all to make sense since you want larger tap targets.